


Hell Bound

by IAmTheBadWolf1990



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Chloe goes to Hell, F/M, Post-Season/Series 04, Protective Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23443582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmTheBadWolf1990/pseuds/IAmTheBadWolf1990
Summary: It's been a few weeks since Lucifer returned to Hell to control his demons, and Chloe has been trying really hard not to think about it. But that task becomes impossible when one of Lucifer's brothers decides that Lucifer needs an extra incentive to stay on his throne.
Relationships: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar
Comments: 22
Kudos: 300





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: The first chapter contains a depiction of suicide. It's not a main character and it's not graphic, but just read with caution if this sort of thing is a trigger for you.

It was Chloe’s first day to herself in over a month. And she hated it. Ever since Lucifer had left, she had done everything she could to make sure that she wouldn’t be left alone with her thoughts. She didn’t want to feel the pain - to remember how sad his eyes were before he said goodbye for the last time.

She didn’t want to, but she did anyway.

And now with Trixie at Dan’s and no active case to keep her mind occupied, she felt that pain more than ever. She knew that she should try and move on, to live her life like Lucifer would want her to, but it all just felt so… _wrong_.

_She missed the Devil._

Almost as if she had willed it, a gentle whooshing sound filled the room and Chloe’s eyes snapped up from the remote control she had just been reaching for. She’d recognise that sound anywhere. It was the sound that had meant that Lucifer had really gone all those weeks ago… and now it was the sound that meant he had come back. Because there he was. Standing right in front of her.

For a moment, Chloe considered that she might be dreaming or imagining things, but she quickly decided that she didn’t care.

‘Be n-mfff.’

Whatever Lucifer had been about to say was quickly muffled by her Chloe's crashing into his.

_He was here._

_He was home._

It was only when Lucifer didn’t respond to the kiss that Chloe realised how different he was. She pulled back, eyes wandering over him, scrutinising. His posture was all wrong, his clothes too. She had no idea what sort of dress code they had in Hell (not that Lucifer would ever follow one) but she was pretty sure that it wasn’t something that looked more like a dress than anything else.

And he was staring at her in shock, like he couldn’t believe that she had just kissed him. He even looked a little bit repulsed by it.

‘You’re not Lucifer.’

The realisation hit her like a bullet to the chest and she had to fight to stay upright.

‘I am Michael,’ said the angel who could have easily passed as Lucifer.

‘Michael?’ Chloe asked, the recognition of the name bringing her out of her downward spiral. ‘As in the Archangel Michael? The-one-who-sent-Lucifer-to-Hell Michael?’

And apparently Lucifer’s-twin Michael.

Michael squared his shoulders, his white wings ruffling almost threateningly. ‘I did what was necessary,’ he said in a pompous tone that Lucifer had always accused his siblings of having. Chloe had never been sure if she had believed him about that - Amenadiel had always seemed pretty nice - but now she could see where he was coming from.

Chloe crossed her arms across her chest. ‘What do you want?’ she asked, making sure that Michael knew just how unwelcome he was in her home.

‘I want my brother to be happy.’

Chloe scoffed.

‘I do,’ he insisted, though his voice held little emotion. ‘And it seems that he is getting restless in Hell.’

‘Well, you know how you can help with that,’ spat Chloe. If he cared so much about Lucifer’s happiness, why didn’t he take Hell’s throne for a while? Why didn’t any of them?

Michael simply nodded. ‘I do,’ he said again, and, like a flash, his arms shot out and grabbed Chloe by the waist. ‘I need to give him a reason to stay.’

Before Chloe could utter a word, the familiar whooshing sound returned and her world went black.

\----

When Chloe woke up, she was definitely not in her living room anymore. The floor was far too hard, and she could feel something soft and light falling on the bare skin of her arms that her t-shirt didn’t cover. Sitting up, she realised that it was ash, and her first thought was that she was in a burning building, but, after taking a frantic look at her surroundings, she realised that there were no buildings to burn, just a whole heap of dark stone structures. She looked upwards and saw that the ash was falling from the sky itself, which was nothing but an endless stormy sea of grey cloud.

Chloe had heard enough stories from Maze to know Hell when she saw it.

_Michael had brought her to Hell._

Did that mean that she was dead?

Chloe fought back the lump in her throat at the thought. She could worry about that later; right now, her priority was finding Lucifer. Michael had brought her to Hell because he obviously thought that it would keep Lucifer here, but Chloe knew that it would have the opposite effect. She knew that Lucifer would do anything to get her home, dead or no, and, just maybe, she would be able to convince him to come home with her.

But how did she find him?

She looked up and down the stone pathway she was sitting in the middle of, but she couldn’t see anything that indicated which way to go; no giant foreboding castle in the distance or “This way to Reception” signs.

Chloe stood up and dusted the ash off of her, only to have it instantly replaced by more. She didn't bother trying again.

After a quick round of eeny meeny miney moe, she picked a direction and started to walk, hoping to find some clue as to how to find Lucifer; something told her that calling for him would be a bad idea, and waiting in the same spot would be an even worse one. As she walked, she passed many doors that were built into the stone structures, but she knew on instinct to leave them alone, so she tried her best to ignore the eerie whispers coming from them and continued down her chosen path.

She had been walking for about 20 minutes without any change in scenery when the sound of voices stopped her in her tracks. Before she had a chance to change directions or even hide (not there was anywhere she _could_ hide), two figures came around the corner, just a few metres ahead of her. They were obviously demons. While mostly human in appearance, their faces seemed to be made of rotting flesh and one of them even had talons for fingernails.

For a moment, the demons just stared at Chloe and Chloe just stared at the demons, each as shocked as the other.

The female demon on the right was the first to recover, what remained of her lips curving up in a sinister smile. ‘Well, well, it seems we have a wayward soul,’ she said, her voice raspy.

The male demon beside her nodded, his smile matching hers (though his was more pronounced as his lips were intact). ‘It would seem so,’ he agreed.

‘We can’t have that, can we?’ said the female demon.

‘No, we can’t.’

They started advancing and Chloe fought the urge to run; these demons were her best shot at finding Lucifer. ‘I demand to see your King,’ she told them, using every scrap of acting ability she had in her to feign confidence.

The demons only laughed.

‘I have a message from Mazikeen.’

That stopped them.

The male demon pulled out a blade that looked a bit like Maze’s ones and pointed it at Chloe. It was still a good few inches away but the sight of it still caused her to gulp and pray (hah!) that they would buy her bluff.

But no such luck.

‘You’re lying,’ hissed the demon and Chloe was smart enough to know when to quit. Without giving the demons time to decide what to do with her, she turned on her heel and fled. She knew that it was unlikely she would escape them – Hell was their domain – but she had to try.

Luckily, her sudden move had surprised the demons enough for her to get a decent head start. She ran through the stone maze as fast as she could, only stopping when she came to a T-junction. She was far enough ahead of the demons for them to be out of sight, so she made a quick decision. She could go left or she could go right, but she went neither. Instead, she opened the door that was carved into the stone beside her and hoped that the demons would assume that she had kept running.

When she entered the room, Chloe was momentary blinded by unexpected sunlight. She held her hand up to shield her eyes for a moment, squinting at the scene before her. She was on a bridge, deep blue water many feet below her. And she wasn’t alone. There was man standing on the ledge, obviously ready to jump. Chloe ran towards him, yelling at him to wait, but to no avail. The man, who looked to be in his early twenties, fell forwards and disappeared into the blue depths of the water below. Chloe peered over the edge, waiting for him to resurface, but after a minute or two, it became clear that this was not going to happen.

And then suddenly he was beside her, climbing back up to the ledge he had just jumped from.

 _This must be a Hell Loop_ , Chloe realised. Maze had told her about them, but she had never gone into much detail.

Chloe wondered if she could interact with the soul who was damned to repeat his own suicide over and over again for all eternity. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ she said, looking up at him.

Incredibly, the man turned to face her, and Chloe felt a spark of hope that maybe she could help, or at least understand why he was here, but that hope died as soon as the man started speaking.

He was speaking French. Very quickly. Which meant that Chloe couldn’t understand him and he probably couldn’t understand her.

But she had to try anyway.

‘Bonjour,’ she said, exhausting her fluency in the language. She held her hand out to him, palm upwards, silently asking him to take it. ‘Please,’ she said. ‘Don’t jump.’

The man looked at her hand with tears in his eyes. He shook his head sadly, muttering the same foreign words over and over again. Chloe sensed that it may be some sort of apology.

And then the man turned away and once again prepared to jump. Chloe tried grabbing the back of his shirt to stop him, but he just shrugged out of her grip. The movement caused him to lose his footing and he fell to his “death” once more.

Slightly different circumstances but same result.

Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes and took a step back as she waited for the Loop to reset. Maybe next time would be different.

Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped around her from behind, sharp talons digging into her waist. ‘Got you,’ taunted the female demon whom Chloe had been running from. She mentally cursed herself for forgetting about her pursuers.

The demon began to drag her backwards but then paused, giving Chloe’s hair a quick sniff. ‘You’re alive,’ she said, surprised. The relief that Chloe felt at that statement was short-lived as she realised that just because she wasn’t dead, didn’t mean that the demon wouldn’t hesitate to fix that situation. ‘Well, human, it seems that you get your wish after all. The King will definitely want to know about this.’

Before Chloe could process the words, something hard collided with her head and her vision went dark once more.

\----

Chloe woke slowly this time, feeling disoriented and a little bit sick. She really wished that the room would stop moving.

A few seconds later she realised that it wasn’t the room that was moving; _she was_. More specifically, she was being dragged. She glanced down at her feet as she noticed a sharp pain in her left foot. Her boot had come off and her bare skin was scraping along the stone pathway.

Chloe fought the urge to cry out in pain and instead focused on her captors. She could feel two hands around her upper arms, one of them had nails longer than the other.

The same two demons then.

She dared not look up at them, deciding best to play possum for now. She didn’t really have any chance of escape anyway; she doubted she could run right now and, even if she could, she could feel heavy metal shackles biting into her wrists that were hanging uncomfortably behind her back. The sound of a chain clinking further confirmed that her hands were bound to each other.

Chloe let out an involuntary shout of pain as suddenly the stone pathway beneath her changed, becoming sharp steps. She heard one of the demons chuckle, obviously amused at her pain.

So much for playing possum then, but at least the demons didn’t seem that concerned if she was awake or not.

A few minutes (and thankfully not too many steps) later, the demons stopped and let her drop to the floor. Her head hit the stone with a loud thud and Chloe groaned as her vision blurred and the urge to vomit increased. Both sensations only took a few seconds to disappear, but she didn’t have time to be relieved of that fact before the male demon was pulling her back up by her shoulder, this time to a standing position. White hot pain seared through her left foot and her shackled hands felt uncomfortable behind her back, but she didn’t give the demons the satisfaction of showing them any weakness.

A rotting hand grabbed her throat and the demon leaned in close, looking her in the eye. ‘You will only speak when spoken to and you will keep your head bowed at all times,’ he told her. ‘Is that clear, human?’

Chloe glared at the demon but nodded her understanding.

Once satisfied, the demon released her throat and spun her around so that she was facing two huge black doors. These doors were nothing like the ones that had been littered through the stone maze she had run through earlier; these ones were much more important looking… and much more menacing.

Chloe knew straight away that she would find Lucifer behind them.

‘Head bowed, I said,’ snarled the demon behind her and Chloe reluctantly obeyed.

Once the demons were sure she would not defy their order again, they opened the doors and slowly marched her through. After about ten agonising steps, they stopped and pushed Chloe to her knees, causing her ash-soaked hair to fall over her face.

Chloe didn’t have to be able to see him to know that Lucifer was in the room. She could feel his presence in the very air.

‘My King,’ said the male demon, ‘forgive the intrusion but we thought it best to seek your council on this matter.’

‘What matter?’ asked Lucifer, sounding bored and a little bit irritated. Chloe almost sobbed at the sound of the familiar British accent. How many times had she dreamed of hearing that voice again?

Not enough to do it justice.

She risked a glance upwards, just a small tilt of the head that would give her a marginally better view of him through her hair. He was facing away from her. Chloe doubted that he had even turned to face the demons at all.

‘This human is not meant to be here,’ said the same demon. ‘She is not dead.’

Lucifer turned around, finally facing them, and Chloe couldn’t help but bring her head up a little more. Lucifer’s eyes widened as they locked onto hers, shock evident on his face. Before either of them could say anything however, the demons noticed Chloe’s transgression and a clawed hand grabbed her by the back of the neck and forced her forward so hard that her face smashed painfully into the stone floor. It wasn’t enough to break her nose, but she still tasted the metallic tang of blood as it trickled down to her lips.

A second later, there was an angry roar and the hand gripping Chloe’s neck released her. Chloe groaned as she rolled to her side in an attempt to right herself. With her hands still bound behind her it took a couple of tries, but she finally managed to sit up.

Now properly able to see, the first thing she noticed was the bright white wings that spread across nearly the whole width of the room. Lucifer had the two now squirming and very frightened demons pinned up against the closed doors.

‘How dare you touch her!’ he shouted, his voice reminiscent of when he had ordered the demons at the Mayan back to Hell. ‘Now explain! What is she doing here? What did you do?’

‘We just found her, my Lord,’ said the male demon, cowering under Lucifer’s gaze.

The female demon was a little bit more put together. ‘We were doing our rounds in the south east Suicide Zone,’ she explained. ‘And there she was, walking the corridors. We thought she had escaped her cell at first, but as soon as we realised that she wasn’t dead, we brought her to you.’

After a moment or two, Lucifer released them and took a step back. He shrugged his wings away and glanced at Chloe, an unreadable emotion on his face. Chloe tried to give him a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace as another trickle of blood rolled down from her nose. Lucifer’s eyes followed its decent and filled with anger once more. He turned back to the demons who were wisely staying silent.

‘No one touches her,’ he told them. ‘Do you understand? No one!’

Both demons nodded.

‘Well go on, then. Spread the word. Make sure everybody knows that the Detective is off-limits.’

The demons faltered slightly at the use of her nickname and proof of familiarity but quickly bowed and left through the same doors they had just been pressed up against. Once they were gone, Lucifer’s shoulders sagged and he slowly turned to face Chloe, who was still sitting on the floor.

Chloe tried for that smile again, this time succeeding a little more as her nose had seemed to have stopped bleeding.

Lucifer did not smile in return, but his eyes did soften as he moved towards her. ‘What happened?’ he asked, kneeling in front of her. He reached behind her and, a second later, her shackles fell to the floor.

Chloe rubbed her now free wrists with her hands, as if that would ease the sting that the cutting metal had caused. Lucifer noticed her movement and she could have sworn she saw his eyes flash red for a second.

‘Thanks,’ she said. She considered getting up off the floor, but she didn’t want to draw attention to her injured foot. Nor did she particularly want to put unnecessary pressure on it.

‘Chloe,’ Lucifer sighed, half in exasperation of not having his question answered, and half in disbelief that she was actually in front of him.

Chloe understood the feeling.

‘It was Michael,’ she said, finally answering his question. ‘He brought me here.’ This time Lucifer’s eyes definitely did flash red. Well, not so much flashed… more changed colour permanently.

‘He did what?’ he snarled. ‘Why?’

‘He just showed up at my apartment, said you were getting restless and that you needed… Well, it doesn’t matter. It happened.’

Lucifer’s eyes roamed over her, assessing her cuts and bruises. They were all pretty superficial, but Lucifer’s gaze darkened with each one. ‘Hey, it’s okay,’ she told him, reaching out to cup his face and bring his eyes back to hers. ‘Just a few scratches. I’ll be fine.’

Lucifer leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were back to their regular brown colour. ‘Chloe, I’m so sorry,’ he whispered. He reached out and used his thumb to rub away some of the dried blood that had settled just above her upper lip.

‘It’s not your fault.’

‘Of course it is. Why else would Michael bring you here if not because of me?’ He didn’t give her a chance to give him an answer, which was probably a good thing, because Chloe didn’t exactly have one. ‘But, luckily, it’s something I can fix.’ He unfurled his wings again and made to pick Chloe up, but she held a hand up to stop him.

‘Already?’ she asked.

Lucifer froze, looking shocked.

‘Detective, you don’t deserve to be here. You shouldn’t have to stay in this quite literally Godforsaken place a second longer than you already have.’

Chloe looked to the floor, downcast. ‘I know, it’s just… I really missed you.’

Lucifer’s arms shifted so that now, instead of preparing to lift her, they were loosely wrapped around her. Chloe instinctively leaned into his chest and brought her own arms around his back, returning his embrace. ‘I missed you too,’ he whispered. Chloe thought she may have felt him place a chaste kiss to her hair, but she could have just as easily imagined it.

‘But I have to take you back,’ Lucifer continued. ‘This place… it’s not something I ever wanted for you to see, and keeping you here for even a minute longer than necessary would be the most selfish thing I could ever do.’

Chloe nodded against his chest, willing her tears away. She didn’t want to say goodbye again.

‘Do you have to stay?’ she asked, pulling back a little to look up at him. The look in his eyes was answer enough.

‘I’m sorry.’

All Chloe could do was nod and feel foolish for thinking that anything had changed. The demons still needed a King, so Lucifer still could not come home.

‘I understand,’ she said, pulling herself up from the floor at last. It hurt a little to stand on her injured foot, but she was only on it for a matter of moments before Lucifer had gotten up as well and had picked her up in a bridal carry.

‘You ready?’ he asked.

Chloe nodded and, as Lucifer began to beat his wings, glanced up at him to get one last look at his face. Once sure that she had every feature committed to memory, she closed her eyes for the flight. Maybe if she didn’t look, she wouldn’t pass out like last time.

Well, mission accomplished, she didn’t pass out. No, this time it was much, _much_ worse than merely passing out.

For the first few seconds of the flight, everything was fine, but then a sudden pain shot through Chloe’s side and she felt as if someone was trying to pull her out of Lucifer’s grip.

‘Lucifer! Stop!’ she cried, gripping his shoulders as tight as she possibly could.

At first, he kept going, making Chloe think he hadn’t heard her - if anything, he seemed to have increased his efforts - but then Chloe screamed again as the invisible force pulling at her made feel like she was falling, and the beat of his wings stopped as he headed her warning. The pain and strange pulling sensation instantly disappeared and when Chloe gathered enough courage to open her eyes, she saw that they were back in the room from which they had departed. Lucifer gently set her down on her feet. The pain in her foot flared but, compared to what she had just experienced, it was easy to ignore.

‘What was that?’ she asked, slightly breathless and very shaken. ‘It felt like someone was using me to play tug-a-war.’

Lucifer looked just as scared as she felt, if not more-so.

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I should be able to fly you to Earth just as Michael flew you here.’

‘Could he have done something? Like closed the barrier or whatever between Hell and Earth after he brought me here?’

Lucifer shook his head. ‘That's impossible. Otherwise I would have done it ages ago.’

Chloe fidgeted awkwardly. ‘Right, yeah, of course. Sorry.’

‘No need to apologise, Detective… wait, you said it felt like tug-a-war, like something was pulling you back to Hell?’

At Chloe’s nod, Lucifer’s eyes darkened. He obviously had a theory… and he obviously didn’t like it.

‘Did Michael touch you anywhere when he brought you here?’ he asked.

Chloe’s fingers automatically went to her lips before she realised what she was doing and quickly dropped her hand back to her side. ‘He, uh, he grabbed me by my waist when he picked me u- Hey!’ Before Chloe had even finished her sentence, Lucifer had grabbed the hem of her shirt and had lifted it enough to reveal the skin of her stomach underneath. ‘Lucifer, what are you…’

Chloe trailed off as she noticed that his eyes were red again, and this time she swore she could see flames flickering in the irises. And then she noticed what he was staring at – what had him all worked up. There on her skin, just above her right hip, was a red mark. It was raised off the skin a bit and was slightly pebbled, almost like a branding mark.

And, perhaps the most worrying thing of all, it was in the shape of a pentagram.

‘Lucifer, what is that?’ she asked, her voice sounding a lot smaller than she would have liked.

‘A soul mark,’ growled Lucifer, his fiery eyes not leaving the mark.

‘What’s a soul mark?’

Lucifer finally tore his gaze away from Chloe’s hip and straightened up. But he still didn’t look her in the eyes. Chloe suspected that that may have had something to do with the fact that the flames still hadn’t left his. ‘It’s a mark that binds a soul to a specific realm,’ he explained. ‘I’ve only seen one before, and that was the one that Amenadiel bestowed upon Cain. It’s why he was immortal.’

‘Can you get rid of it?’ Chloe asked.

‘I don’t think so,’ answered Lucifer, but he put his hand on the mark and tried anyway.

After a couple of seconds, he pulled his hand away, and Chloe looked down to see that the mark didn’t look quite as red and raw anymore, but it was very much still there. She traced it with her finger. ‘So, my soul is bound to Hell,’ she said, more of a statement than a question. ‘But what happens if I die here?’

Lucifer went back to glaring at the space just above Chloe’s shoulder, still not able to look at her. ‘I don’t know. But there are two likely options. One, your soul just bounces back into your own body, like Cain’s did on Earth, or…’

‘Or?’

Finally, Lucifer shifted his gaze to look her in the eyes. His own eyes were no longer glowing with hellfire, but the anger was still there, along with a hefty amount of guilt. ‘Or you’ll end up in a room.’

Chloe gulped. She didn’t like the sound of that.

Luckily, Lucifer was quick to reassure her. ‘If that happens, I will find you. I promise.’

Chloe nodded. She had total faith in him. ‘I know you will. But let’s just try and avoid the whole dying thing altogether, yeah?’

Lucifer’s lips twitched up into an almost smile. ‘That’s probably best.’

For a few moments, the pair just stared at each other, each contemplating this newest development in what had definitely become the craziest day of Chloe’s life.

‘So, what now?’ asked Chloe, breaking the silence.

Lucifer took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Now, I try and call Michael. He gave you the mark, so he should have the power to take it away… hopefully.’

He took a step back from Chloe and raised his hands in front of him in the typical prayer position. After a minute, he lowered them again and looked around the room, as if expecting Michael to be hiding in one of the corners. When it became apparent that Michael was not making an appearance, he let out another sigh.

‘I take it Michael didn’t answer,’ said Chloe, moving closer to him so she could rub a hand against his shoulder. Her wrist and foot protested at the movement, but she did it anyway.

‘I didn’t really expect him to,’ confessed Lucifer, turning to give her an apologetic look. ‘Chloe, I’m so sorry.’

‘Hey, now, none of that. I already told you I don’t blame you. And there must be something else we can try.’

Lucifer thought for a moment before his face seemed to brighten a little, an idea obviously forming. ‘Michael won’t listen to me, but he may listen to someone else.’ He brought his hands together in prayer again and, a second later, the sound of fluttering wings filled the room and Chloe turned to see a very shocked and confused Amenadiel staring back at her.

‘Chloe, what are you doing here?’ he asked. ‘This is not where you belong.’ He winced and looked to Lucifer. ‘Sorry.’

‘No offence taken, brother,’ said Lucifer, waving off the apology. ‘In fact, I couldn’t agree with you more. Which is precisely the reason I asked you down here. You see, Michael has decided, for whatever idiotic reason, to bind the Detective’s soul to Hell, and I need you to convince him to remove the mark he gave her.’

Amenadiel’s eyes widened as he looked between Chloe and Lucifer. ‘He marked her soul?’ he asked, incredulously.

Chloe lifted the hem of her shirt to show him the proof and Amenadiel’s eyes widened even further.

‘I’ll talk to him,’ he said at last, and Chloe lowered her shirt back over her hip. Amenadiel took a step closer and met Chloe’s eyes in a very serious look that was almost too intense for her to handle. ‘I’ll do everything I can to get him to take the mark back,’ he vowed. Chloe gave a shaky nod in thanks and the intense look faded from Amenadiel’s eyes. He took a few steps back and spread his dark grey wings again. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

And with that, he was gone, and Chloe had to blink a couple of times to bring herself out of the unsettling feeling of seeing him there one second, and then nothing but empty space the next.

‘He may be a little while,’ said Lucifer, bringing Chloe back to Earth... well, no, not back to _Earth_ , but back to the situation at hand anyway. ‘I know he said “soon”, but time moves differently in Hell. What will only be a few minutes for him, will be hours or days here.’

Chloe nodded her understanding, having already been told about the weird time difference by Maze. ‘So what do we do while we wait?’ she asked.

Lucifer let out a breath and thought for a moment. ‘Well I would show you the sights, but I’m afraid they are pretty depressing. Although, there is one thing I would like to show you… but it can wait until you’ve washed up.’ He reached out and held a lock of her ashy hair between his fingers. ‘I know from experience how dirty this place feels when you first arrive, and I’m sure you’re itching for a bath.’

He wasn’t wrong.

‘You have central plumbing here?’ Chloe asked, half teasing, half curious.

Lucifer chuckled. ‘Unfortunately not. But there is water, so drawing a bath is no problem. You’ll just have to wait for it to cool down before you get in. Hell runs rather hot and I'm afraid the water is no exception.’

Chloe gave Lucifer a grateful smile. ‘A bath sounds perfect right now.’

\----

After a surprisingly relaxing bath that was only a little too hot, Chloe bandaged her injured foot, put on some clean clothes (she didn’t ask where they had come from, not really wanting to know), and let Lucifer show her around his castle, albeit very slowly.

It wasn’t much of a tour; the place wasn’t huge and most of the rooms were either empty or “best stayed away from”, but Chloe was eager for the small insight into how Lucifer lived down here. There were a couple of demons scuttling around the place, acting a bit like servants, but these ones appeared human and were nowhere near as threatening as the others she had seen.

The last room on their tour was Lucifer’s bedroom, and Chloe’s stomach clenched in nerves and anticipation, but Lucifer didn’t make so much as a suggestive comment. He barely even glanced at the bed as he passed it and led her out onto a balcony.

The view was okay, the balcony being high enough to see the courtyard below but not quite enough to see over the stone structures that made up Hell’s maze of corridors and doors. At least it had a roof to keep the ash out, though a few flecks still managed to blow in despite there being no wind.

‘There’s a better view from my throne,’ said Lucifer, looking out at the grey landscape. ‘Well, better as in you can see more. It’s all still ash and brimstone, I’m afraid.’

‘I thought your throne was downstairs,’ said Chloe, looking up at him quizzically. She was sure she had seen a throne in the room she had first been brought to. It had been a lot less ornate than she had expected it to be, but definitely still a throne.

‘That’s just the one I use for when I’m entertaining the demons. My proper throne is a lot more impressive.’ There was a slight awkward pause. ‘Would you like to see it?’

Despite the ash and faraway sounds of demons fighting, Chloe smiled. ‘Yeah, I think I would.’

And for the first time since she had arrived in Hell, Lucifer smiled too. He moved so he was standing behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. At first Chloe just thought he was hugging her, but then his wings unfurled and flapped a couple of times in preparation. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t drop you,’ Lucifer whispered in her ear, obviously feeling her tense up.

‘I won’t get that pain again, will I?’ she asked, gripping his arms with her hands.

‘You shouldn’t do. I’m not trying to fly you out Hell, just a little closer to the top.’

Chloe gulped down her nerves and gave him a nod, signalling that she was ready. She trusted him.

With a soft whoosh, they took off and up. It only took a few seconds to follow the black spire up to a throne which looked a lot more like Chloe’s expectations. Lucifer carefully manoeuvred them so that he was sitting on the throne with her on his lap, and then loosened his grip just a little.

Chloe had to admit, the view was impressive, if still bleak. She could see for miles, most of which were taken up by the same stone structures. How big was Hell anyway?

‘Is this what you wanted to show me?’ she asked Lucifer, who was leaning his chin against her temple. He nodded against her.

‘It’s really the only thing here that could be considered enjoyable. Plus, it’s the only place where the ash doesn’t properly reach.’

Chloe lifted one of her arms to inspect it. Sure enough, there were only a few flecks of ash on her sleeve. Looking up, she realised why. Right above the throne, so close that she felt that she could reach it if she stretched enough, was a gap in the grey clouds that plagued the rest of Hell’s sky. There was light coming from the gap, making Chloe wonder what was above the clouds. Was there a sun? A never-ending burning fire? It would explain the ash and the heat.

‘It does have a certain beauty,’ admitted Chloe, looking back over Hell’s landscape. ‘If I could draw or paint, I’m sure I could spend hours here trying to get the details right.’

‘I have actually done that,’ said Lucifer. ‘And no, you can’t see the results. I didn’t keep them.’

Chloe found herself a little disappointed at that but understood. He probably didn’t want the constant reminder of where he was.

‘This is the first place I came to when I got back here,’ continued Lucifer, his arms tightening around Chloe a little. Chloe clasped her hands over his and intertwined their fingers; she didn’t like thinking of their separation either, or about him being all alone down here. ‘It let all the demons know that I was back for good, reminded them of my authority. It’s part of the reason I wanted to bring you up here.’

Chloe’s brow furrowed in confusion, which did not go unnoticed by Lucifer.

‘Now they’ve seen you on my throne with me, they know how important you are,’ he explained. ‘They’ll know exactly what will happen to them if they treat you with anything other than respect. Hopefully it will help to keep you safe until Amenadiel convinces Michael to remove your mark.’

Chloe looked back out across the landscape before them, lost in thought. Right now, held in Lucifer’s arms, Hell didn’t seem like such a dangerous place, but she knew that this was not true. The pain that still throbbed through her injured foot was a reminder of that. Hell could be deadly to her, and she would have to learn quickly how to survive; how to interact with the demons and show no weakness – maybe even how to use those hell-forged blades that seemed to be their weapons of choice.

Thankfully, she had no doubt that Lucifer would be a good teacher.

She was startled out of her thoughts by Lucifer’s uncertain voice. ‘Detective,’ he started but then seemed to lose his nerve. Chloe made a hum of encouragement and he began again. ‘Detective, when I first asked about Michael and if he had touched you anywhere, you touched your lips.’

Though it wasn’t phrased like one, Chloe could hear the question behind his statement. She could also hear the dark edge to his words and feel the tremor in his arms, and it made her realise that the reason for his false start hadn’t been uncertainty, it had been an effort to keep his emotions in check. Chloe winced as she realised what Lucifer must be thinking.

‘That was more a case of me touching him,’ she said, blushing slightly. The tension in Lucifer’s arms eased somewhat but the troubled expression remained on his face. ‘I thought he was you,’ she rushed to explain. ‘He just kinda appeared in front of me, and, well, you can’t deny the physical similarities, so I just sort of… kissed him. I didn’t even think about it or give him a chance to speak or anything. I, uh, realised he wasn’t you pretty quickly after that.’

To Chloe’s immense relief, Lucifer’s eyes softened, and he chuckled. ‘Yes, I imagine my dullard twin would have probably frozen in shock at the prospect of having even that innocent level of fun.’

‘So, you’re not mad at me?’ Chloe asked, hopefully.

Lucifer chuckled again and placed a soft kiss to her hair. ‘Not at all. Though, I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get the same treatment.’

Chloe rolled her eyes, her lips twitching up into a smile. ‘There were a few things going on at the time,’ she said, playfully.

However, it was obviously the wrong thing to say. Lucifer’s arms tightened around her protectively and his eyes flashed red again as he remembered what the demons had done to her.

So Chloe did the only thing she could think of to distract him. She twisted around so that she could bury a hand in his hair, and she kissed him.

It took Lucifer a few seconds to respond to the kiss, but boy did he respond. He kissed her like she was the very air he needed to breathe, and it wasn’t long before his tongue was swiping along the seam of her lips, begging for entrance which Chloe was all too happy to allow.

Eventually though, the need for air became too much and Chloe was forced to pull away with a gasp. But it seemed that now Lucifer had started, he didn’t want to stop. His lips moved down to devour her neck instead and his fingers started to grip at her shirt and Chloe suddenly realised how exposed they were on his throne… and how high off the ground they were. She reluctantly used the hand that was still tangled in Lucifer’s hair to pull him away. He made a little whine of complaint but complied nonetheless.

‘Best, uh, not get too carried away,’ she said, still a bit breathless. ‘It’s a long way down to the ground.’

‘I would never let you fall,’ whispered Lucifer with such devotion that Chloe couldn’t help but kiss him again. But she made sure to keep it chaste this time.

‘I know,’ she whispered back. ‘But it’s still not the best place for a make out session.’

Lucifer gave her that suggestive leer that Chloe had been surprised to miss so much in the weeks since he had left. ‘Well, then, shall we re-locate?’ he purred.

Chloe laughed and nodded, almost forgetting that she was in actual Hell. Right now, it was just her and Lucifer; everything else was just background noise.

‘Take me to bed, Satan.’


	2. Chapter 2

Amenadiel glanced around the woodland, making sure that there were no hikers that had decided to venture this far out. He had a feeling his conversation with Michael was not going to be an overly pleasant one and he didn’t want any human witnesses. But he definitely didn’t want to have this meeting at home, so the woods it would have to be. After the business with Remi, he didn’t really feel all too comfortable having any of his siblings near his son. Except for Lucifer, of course - and wasn’t that ironic?

Once sure that he was alone, Amenadiel brought his hands together in front of him and sent a prayer to Michael. Seconds later, the sound of flapping wings filled the air and Amenadiel lowered his hands and turned to face his brother.

‘Brother,’ greeted Michael, the smallest hint of a smile forming on his lips. ‘It is good to see you.’

‘And you,’ replied Amenadiel. It wasn’t a lie exactly, but it wasn’t the truth either. He and Michael had never really been close. ‘I just wish it was due to better circumstances.’

Michael clasped his hands behind his back and nodded in understanding. ‘This is about Chloe Decker. Let me guess, you wish me to remove the mark I placed on her soul?’

‘You would be guessing correctly.’

When Michael gave no indication of responding, let alone complying with his request, Amenadiel sighed. ‘Please, brother,’ he said, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good but having to try anyway.

‘You know I cannot,’ said Michael at last. Not the answer Amenadiel had wanted, but at least it _was_ an answer, so… progress?

‘But why?’ he pressed. ‘Chloe’s soul is pure. I know you don’t know her, but surely you must see that. If nothing else, the fact that she is a miracle should be enough to convince you that she does not belong in Hell - that Father does not want her there.’ Their Father’s intentions was a flimsy excuse at best, but Michael had always been, in Lucifer’s words, “Daddy’s little obedient soldier”, so Amenadiel took a risk, hoping the mere possibility of going against God would be enough to rethink his decision.

Unfortunately, Michael seemed to have gained a mind of his own since Amenadiel had last seen him.

‘You know as well as I that that is not necessarily true. Father works in mysterious ways-’

Amenadiel rolled his eyes and tried not think back to when he was this pretentious. 

‘- and it is not for us to know what his plans are. He will let us know if we stray from our paths.’

‘So why interfere at all?’ asked Amenadiel.

‘Because recent events have proved that Lucifer belongs in Hell,’ said Michael simply. ‘The demons must have a ruler, and Father entrusted that role to Lucifer long ago. And if he needs an incentive to stay, then so be it. In fact, I thought he would be grateful. I was under the impression that he was quite… fond of the human.’

‘So that’s all Chloe is?’ asked Amenadiel, pointedly staying clear of the topic of Lucifer’s rebellion and fall. ‘A reward? A consolation prize? Brother, she has a life here on Earth. She has a daughter and friends that care about her. She has a job that allows her to do good in the world. She is not a pawn for you to play with.’

Michael shrugged. ‘Of course she is. As are all humans, really. We are above them.’

Amenadiel opened his mouth to argue but Michael cut him off.

‘And while I admit that you are correct about Chloe Decker’s soul, without the mark she would indeed be destined for the Silver City, I can say for certain that, if she didn’t deserve to be in Hell right now, she wouldn’t be there.’

Amenadiel furrowed his brow as he tried to make sense of what Michael had just said. ‘I’m not following,’ he said, giving up.

Michael chuckled, which was slightly eerie considering it was a sound Amenadiel associated more with Lucifer. ‘Living with humans has made you forgetful, brother.’

‘Then remind me,’ pleaded Amenadiel. ‘What have I missed?’

Michael gave him a look of pity. ‘I cannot remove the mark any more than you could remove Cain’s,’ he said before extending his wings, bright white like Lucifer’s, and taking a step back. ‘Goodbye, brother.’ And without even giving Amenadiel a chance to open his mouth, let alone speak, he disappeared, leaving Amenadiel alone once more in the woods.

Amenadiel let out a sigh and ran a hand down his face. Michael had given him a lot to think about, but the most persistent thought was how he was going to tell Lucifer and Chloe that he didn’t know how to help them.

He let out another sigh.

Dad help him.

\----

Chloe yawned and stretched her arms out wide before snuggling back into the pillows of Lucifer’s bed. It was nowhere near as comfortable as his bed at his penthouse, it wasn’t even as comfortable as her own bed, but Chloe had slept on far worse, so she wasn’t going to complain. Especially not when Lucifer still had silk sheets that felt glorious against her bare legs.

During a break from their many amorous activities over the past couple of days (at least Chloe assumed it was a couple of days, it was kind of hard to tell without a sun or a moon) Lucifer had explained that he could remove certain items from the Hell Loops, hence the silk sheets and decent clothes. The thought had made her uncomfortable at first, knowing that the items she was using were originally part of what was basically an intricate torture chamber, but it was slowly getting easier to put it out of her mind and simply enjoy the small luxuries.

Lucifer had helped with that of course. They had barely left the bed since they had first got in it and, for a while, Chloe had managed to pretend that they were simply spending a weekend away together – no Hell, no soul mark – just the two of them spending some much deserved alone time. After everything they had been through, Chloe believed that they had well and truly earned that moment of happiness.

But unfortunately, Hell had other plans, which is why Chloe was currently alone in the mildly comfortable bed. Lucifer had gone to sort out some “boring King business” with some demons and Chloe had been quite happy to stay behind. The demon servants she had met in the castle had so far treated her with grudging respect, but she still had plenty of cuts and bruises to remind her that not all demons were quite so considerate. No, it was best that she waited for Amenadiel to bring them news on Michael before she attempted any excursions outside. Hopefully, he wouldn’t take much longer; Lucifer was pretty vague when she had questioned him about the specific time differential between Hell and Earth (Chloe suspected that he didn’t actually understand it himself but didn’t want to admit it).

After one last stretch, Chloe reluctantly got up to start her day. She would do a little exploring today, she decided.

An hour later, she was still aimlessly wandering the halls of the castle when Lucifer returned, literally almost walking into her. ‘Morning,’ he greeted with a smile that was a little too forced for Chloe’s liking. She guessed that whatever he had gone to sort out with the demons hadn’t gone too well.

And that’s when she noticed the blood on his shirt.

When he saw her staring, he instantly tried to hide it with his jacket, but Chloe just batted it away as she started running her hands over his torso, checking for injuries.

Lucifer gently grabbed her hands and held them away from him. ‘Not to worry, Detective. It’s not my blood,’ he told her.

Chloe let out a breath of relief, but when she looked up at Lucifer’s face to ask what had happened, she faltered. Despite the casualness of his words, he looked ashamed.

‘Lucifer, what happened?’

‘Just a little tussle with some low-level demons and a high-level traitor,’ he said, masking his face in false cheeriness. ‘Just let me get changed and then we can find something to do.’

He let go of her hands and made to continue down the hall, but Chloe put a hand on his elbow to stop him.

‘I understand, you know?’ she said.

Lucifer paused and stared down at her hand and then her face, a look of cautious hope in his eyes.

‘Maze told me a lot about Hell after you left,’ continued Chloe, ‘and I know that, to survive in this place, you have to fight – that you can’t always be merciful. So please don’t feel like you have to hide it from me, or that I would think any less of you because of it.’

Chloe suddenly found herself with an armful of Devil as Lucifer pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. ‘I don’t know what I did to deserve you,’ he whispered into her hair.

Chloe chuckled. ‘Well, whatever it was, it’s too late to fix it now. You’re stuck with me.’ She had meant it as a joke, but only realised the double meaning of her words until it was too late to take them back.

Lucifer let out a mournful sigh and slowly untangled himself from her, though he didn’t move far away. ‘I will get you out of here,’ he promised.

Chloe gave him an apologetic smile. ‘I know you will, I didn’t mean it like that.’

Lucifer did his best to smile back, but it fell flat, so Chloe decided to change the subject. ‘Come on, let’s get you cleaned up, because there is actually something I want to do today.’ She tugged on his arm, and he let her lead him back to his quarters, a small smirk forming on his face.

‘My, my, you are quite insatiable once you get going, aren't you Detective? Lucifer likes.’

Chloe rolled her eyes and swatted his arm playfully. ‘I didn't mean that.’

Once in his quarters, it didn’t take too long for Lucifer to get washed and changed into a new suit, mainly because Chloe had somehow managed to keep her resolve and turned down all his suggestions of her “helping” him, and once he was done, they made their way to what constituted as Lucifer’s library, one of the least likely places to find any demons.

The room itself wasn’t huge and didn’t actually have any bookshelves, rather having small piles of books lining the walls, but it did have a fireplace and long benches, making it seem a bit more homely than most of the other rooms in the castle.

‘Are you going to read to me?’ asked Lucifer, his voice teasing.

Chloe chuckled and shook her head. ‘No, I just wanted somewhere peaceful to talk.’ She sat down on one of the stone benches and patted the spot next to her in invitation.

Lucifer hesitated for a moment before taking his seat. The teasing smirk was gone from his face, replaced by apprehension.

‘Don’t look so worried,’ said Chloe, cuddling into his side in an effort to ease whatever worries he his mind had jumped to. It seemed to work, as he immediately lifted his arm to wrap it around her and bring her closer. ‘I just wanted to ask you something.’

Lucifer seemed to relax at that; his shoulders lost their tension and his fingers began idly playing with her hair as he waited for her question.

‘I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight like Maze does.’

Lucifer’s shoulders immediately tensed up again, but Chloe pressed on.

‘If I do end up having to stay here a while, I would like to be able to leave the castle at some point.’

‘Whatever for?’ asked Lucifer. ‘There’s nothing really of interest out there. Not even the boiling lakes and rivers of fire are that interesting. Believe me, if I could get away with not leaving the castle, I would.’

‘Lucifer, you can’t keep me locked in here forever. This isn't a Disney film.’

Lucifer let out a great sigh and pulled Chloe tighter against him so he could rest his chin on the top of her head. ‘You’re right, as always. It’s one of your more annoying traits.’

Chloe let out a huff of laughter but didn’t rise to the bait. ‘So, you’ll teach me?’ she asked.

Lucifer pulled back so he could look her in the eyes. ‘I will, but please Chloe, don’t underestimate how dangerous it is out there. I still have a long way to go before the demons settle down again after my long absence.’

‘That’s exactly why I want to learn how to fight like they do,’ said Chloe, not breaking eye contact. ‘So I can protect myself.’

Lucifer let out another sigh and brought Chloe in for a proper hug, wrapping both of his arms around her. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered. ‘You shouldn’t be here at all.’

Chloe shook her head against his chest. ‘I’ve told you, Lucifer, it’s nobody’s fault but Michael’s. I don’t blame you in the slightest. And truth be told, it could be worse. At least we’re together.’

Despite not pulling away to look, Chloe could tell that Lucifer had that soft smile on his face – the one that she used to see every now and then during their partnership but had convinced herself that she hadn't known what it meant.

But she was not that woman anymore, and she now knew exactly what that smile meant – what it had always meant.

‘I love you,’ she mumbled into his shirt as she squeezed him a bit tighter. It was the first time that either of them had said it since that horrible night on his penthouse balcony and Chloe felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest.

Chloe quickly found herself once again with an armful of Devil, but this time, instead of simply holding her close, Lucifer leaned down to press his lips against hers. Hard. It took Chloe a moment, but she soon responded to the kiss, earning herself a pleased groan from Lucifer for her efforts. A second later she was in his lap, Lucifer kissing his way across her jaw and up to her ear. ‘I love you too, Chloe,’ he whispered once he got there. ‘Always will.’

The desperation that had fuelled the short but intense make-out session dissipated and, for a while, the pair just held each other, Chloe still straddling Lucifer’s lap with her arms wrapped tightly around him and her knees pressed into the hard stone bench they were sitting on. It was a little uncomfortable, but there was no way she was moving unless she absolutely had to.

Unfortunately, that time came a lot quicker than she would have liked, for only a minute later, one of the servant demons came bursting through the doors and running towards them. He bowed his head when he reached them, though Chloe knew this for Lucifer’s benefit, not hers.

Sure enough, when he rose out of his bow, the demon completely ignored her, as if she wasn't sitting in the King’s lap with his hands snaked around her hips.

‘My Lord,’ said the demon in a raspy voice that seemed to be a common feature among his kind. ‘You have a visitor in the throne room.’

‘Well, tell them to bugger off,’ snapped Lucifer, obviously annoyed at the intrusion. ‘I’m busy.’

But the demon did not move, he just wrung his clawed hands uncertainly. ‘But sire, you wished to be informed the moment your brother returned, I-’ The demon jumped back as Lucifer suddenly stood up. Chloe let out a squeak of surprise and clung to him tighter until he gently set her down on her feet.

‘Amenadiel’s here?’ he asked the demon.

‘Yes, my Lord.’

‘Next time lead with that,’ Lucifer growled before grabbing Chloe’s hand and leading them out the room at as swift a pace that Chloe's foot allowed. The pain had eased a lot in the past couple of days, making it easier to push herself to match her usual stride. It also helped that she was eager to find out what news Amenadiel would bring. The only problem was, she wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted that news to be. Being able to leave Hell would be the obvious preferred outcome, and she definitely wanted that… but that would mean that she would have to say goodbye to Lucifer again, and she wasn’t sure if she could do it again. 

It wasn’t until her and Lucifer entered the throne room to see Amenadiel waiting there for them that Chloe finally let her brain be silent.

‘So how did it go?’ asked Lucifer as soon as the doors closed behind them. ‘Did you talk to Michael?’

Amenadiel nodded, but Chloe could tell by his sombre expression that the talk had not gone well.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, turning to address Chloe. ‘I tried, but he said he couldn’t remove the mark.’

‘Then he’s lying,’ snapped Lucifer, who had started to pace the room, probably in an effort to expel some of his anger.

It didn’t seem to be working.

‘I don’t think he is,’ said Amenadiel. ‘But he did seem to know how it could be removed. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t tell me.’ He sent Chloe another apologetic look.

Chloe took a big breath, still not sure if she was disappointed or relieved at Amenadiel’s words. ‘Okay, so we have to try a different angle,’ she said. ‘Treat this like a case.’ Lucifer stopped his pacing and returned to her side, waiting for her to take the lead, just like he did with every other case they had worked together on. It was such a small thing, but it really did help Chloe keep centred.

She brought her focus back to Amenadiel. ‘What exactly did Michael say?’

Amenadiel took a moment to think. ‘He said that he cannot remove your mark any more than I could remove Cain’s, and that I was becoming forgetful. He seemed to think that I should already know… but I don’t.’ His apologetic gaze shifted from Chloe to Lucifer and back again. ‘I’ve been trying to think, but I just can’t think of how to remove it.’

Chloe stepped forward and put a comforting hand on Amenadiel’s arm. ‘Thank you for trying,’ she said. Amenadiel gave her a strained smile, obviously still guilty at his failure, but at least he now knew that Chloe did not hold it against him. ‘Did he say anything else?’ asked Chloe, grasping at straws and hoping that Michael may have let some little clue slip.

Amenadiel’s smile faded and he looked troubled, so Chloe let her arm drop and stepped back to give him space as he shuffled his feet awkwardly. ‘There was one other thing,’ he admitted, though he looked like he didn’t really want to say it.

But that just made Chloe all the more anxious to hear it.

‘Well, come on, out with it, brother,’ said Lucifer, impatient as ever.

‘Well, it was a little contradictory,’ said Amenadiel. ‘He said that, without the mark, Chloe’s soul would go to Heaven, but he also said that if she didn’t deserve to be in Hell, she wouldn’t be.’

Lucifer’s eyes flared red again. ‘She most certainly does _not_ deserve to be here.’

‘I know she doesn’t,’ agreed Amenadiel, unperturbed by Lucifer’s ire. ‘I’m just relaying what he said.’

‘What does he mean, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t deserve it?’ asked Chloe, cutting in before Lucifer could start an argument. ‘Does that mean that something _I_ did is keeping me here?’

Lucifer’s eyes went wide and the red faded back to brown, but before Chloe could ask him what he was thinking, he turned away from her to face Amenadiel.

‘Thank you, brother,’ he said with a sadness that instantly had Chloe worried. ‘You should get back to your family.’

The pair stared at each other for a moment, as if having a silent conversation (could angels do that?), before Amenadiel nodded and left with a woosh of grey feathers.

Lucifer continued to stare at the now empty space in front of him for a few moments before he finally turned back to face Chloe.

‘Lucifer, what is it?’ she asked.

‘I know what Michael meant. I know who can remove your mark.’

‘Who?’

‘You.’

Chloe blinked, confused. ‘Me? I- I don’t understand. How can I remove an angelic mark?’

‘The same way Cain removed his, how I removed my Devil Face, and how I got it back again. By believing that you deserve it.’

Chloe shook her head to try and clear it and make sense of what Lucifer was saying, but to no avail.

‘I’m still not following.’

‘Humans, like angels, can self-actualise,’ he explained. ‘I should have realised this sooner, remembered how Cain lost his mark. I was just caught up with having you here that I...’ He let out a frustrated growl before taking a breath and calming himself down enough to continue with his explanation.

'Despite Cain’s talk, deep down, he thought he deserved his punishment for killing his brother, but when he sacrificed his plans to save you pain, that changed. He felt he deserved redemption. And I’m sure I don’t have to remind you about my own trip down self-hatred lane.’

Chloe shook her head. She remembered that quite vividly; how his internalised self-loathing had manifested as giant bat wings and an exaggerated version of his Devil form.

And then suddenly everything clicked into place and she understood what Lucifer was saying. _She_ was keeping _herself_ in Hell, because deep down, she believed that’s where she deserved to be.

Chloe wanted to deny it, but she knew she would be lying to herself. A part of her did think she deserved to be right where she was… but it had nothing to do with the location.

She looked up into Lucifer’s eyes, and could tell that he knew that she had figured it out. He moved towards her and carefully lifted the hem of her shirt to uncover the mark. ‘Detective, whatever it is that is keeping you here, please let it go,’ he said, lowering her shirt and taking her hands in his.

Chloe gripped his hands tightly. ‘I can’t,’ she whispered.

‘You have to,’ he urged. ‘Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it, I can help.’

Tears started to form in Chloe’s eyes, but she remained silent.

‘Please, Detective,’ begged Lucifer. ‘You don’t deserve Hell.’

‘But I do deserve to be with you!’ she practically shouted, unable to keep it in any longer. ‘After everything we’ve been through, all the false-starts, all the roadblocks, we deserve a chance to be together. We’ve _earned_ it.’

Chloe let go of Lucifer’s hands so that she could wipe away the tears that were now rolling down her cheeks. When she finally managed to look him in the eye again, he was still staring at her, wide-eyed, shocked at her outburst. ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled, ‘I didn’t mean to shout.’

Another tear made it past her eyelashes but Lucifer leaned forward to brush it away with his thumb before it could get too far. ‘Chloe,’ he breathed, seemingly not sure what to say.

It took a minute, but he managed to find his words, but they weren’t the words Chloe was expecting.

‘Think about Beatrice.’

Chloe’s breath hitched as an image of her daughter swam to the forefront of her mind. Fresh tears began to swell up in her eyes. She’d been trying so hard not to think of Trixie the last few days, not wanting to deal with the thought of possibly never seeing her baby girl again.

‘You deserve to be with her,’ continued Lucifer. ‘You deserve to see her graduate high school, to see her bring home her first romantic partner and to watch Maze scare them off if they’re not worthy of her. You deserve to see her get married and have urchins of her own should she wish to.’

‘And I deserve to see it all with my partner by my side,’ cut in Chloe. ‘And don’t tell me you wouldn’t love to see Maze chasing away Trixie’s dates. You’d probably be helping her.’

Lucifer didn’t chuckle like she had expected him to, instead, he looked even more broken. ‘Chloe, I’d love nothing more to have a life with you, but if I leave Hell, the demons will follow. I haven’t found a way to stop them.’

‘But, if you did, you would come home?’ asked Chloe, hating how small her voice sounded.

‘In a heartbeat.’

‘Promise me,’ demanded Chloe, sounding more like herself despite the waterworks. ‘Promise me you’ll find a way to keep the demons here without you and promise me that you’ll come back to me when you do.’

‘Chloe, it could take centuries. You could be d-’ He cut himself off and cleared his throat. ‘You could be gone by the time I figure it out.’

‘I don’t care. Promise me anyway.’

A ghost of a smile played across Lucifer’s face at her stubbornness. ‘I give you my word,’ he said softly, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek like he had done the last time they said goodbye. ‘I will do everything in my power to get back to you.’ And just like last time, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was far too bittersweet.

Chloe closed her eyes and focused on pouring all the love she could into the kiss while still savouring every second of it. She felt Lucifer start to pull away, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back in. He came willingly, of course. He always followed her lead in the end, which is what made Chloe believe that this wasn't the end for them.

She felt Lucifer’s hands at the hem of her shirt and she reluctantly pulled away from the kiss to watch him pull the fabric up, but instead of seeing the pebbled pentagram, all she saw was pale unmarred skin. The mark was gone, leaving no evidence that it had ever been there. Chloe looked back up at Lucifer. He looked both relieved and heartbroken.

‘I guess it’s time, then,’ said Chloe, knowing that Lucifer would not let her stall her departure.

‘I guess so,’ agreed Lucifer, matching her utter lack of enthusiasm.

When neither of them moved, they both chuckled, but then Lucifer reluctantly unfurled his wings and held out his arms for Chloe to step into. Chloe took a few moments to properly take him in and then took the single step needed to press her body against his, wrapping her arms around his neck once more. She closed her eyes as she felt Lucifer bend his knees and pick her up in a bridal carry, just like he had done the first time he had tried to fly her out of Hell. She nuzzled her nose into his neck, taking in his scent - a mixture of ash, whiskey and sandalwood - and then pressed one last kiss to his skin. She felt his Adam’s apple bob before he flapped his wings and left Hell.

\----

When Chloe woke, she was in her bed, back at her apartment. Her duvet lay across her and her curtains were drawn, keeping the sunshine out.

And she was alone.

She inwardly cursed herself for passing out again and missing those few precious moments she could have had with Lucifer. A selfish part of her also cursed Lucifer for not staying until she woke, but she knew it was best that he didn’t, lest the demons realise that he had gone.

Wiping away her dried tears and blinking back the new ones that had threatened to form, Chloe got out of bed and made her way down the stairs to the living room. Her phone was sitting on the coffee table, right where she left it, and she quickly picked it up and unlocked the screen, frowning when she saw the time and date. She had only been gone for six hours, and that included however long she had been unconscious in her room.

Letting out a long sigh, Chloe put her phone back down and went back to her room to have a shower and get changed back into her own clothes, the ones she was currently wearing being the only proof that the last few days had actually happened and weren’t just a vivid dream born from an overactive mind. Well, the clothes and her aching foot that still hadn’t healed from the demons dragging her through Hell’s stone pathways.

Once showered, she put on her most comfortable clothes, fixed her hair, and headed to the place she had been avoiding for that last few weeks.

\----

Despite the early hour, Lux still had plenty of patrons to keep the bartenders busy, so they didn’t notice Chloe slip into the elevator. Or maybe they did, and they just let her anyway. The ride felt longer than usual and when Chloe finally heard that tell-tale ding, she held her breath as the doors slid open.

The penthouse looked just as Lucifer had left it, if not a little cleaner. Chloe knew that Maze had been taking care of the place, but she hadn’t expected her to keep it like this, like it was waiting for its rightful owner to return at any moment.

The elevator doors started to close, and Chloe realised that she had been standing still too long so she shot her hand out to stop them. Once they were fully open again, she walked out of the elevator and into the penthouse. She considered pouring herself a drink but thought better of it, not wanting to let the alcohol let out the grief that she had managed to bottle up during her shower. Instead she walked straight out to the balcony and rested her hands on the cool rail. The sun had set now, and from this high up, you could just about make out the stars that were usually hidden by LA’s light pollution.

She never did get the chance to ask Lucifer if he really did make them.

Chloe smiled. That would be the first thing she would ask him when he came back, she decided. Because he _would_ be back. And she would be waiting for him. But until then, she still had a life to live, and she made a promise to herself to make the most of it.

It would be easier now, she knew. Because now she had something she hadn’t had before.

She had hope.


End file.
